The Damsel of Dauntless
by 4thMusketeer
Summary: Emilia Sable has a bad temper, she's fast, strong and has exceptional fighting skills. Quite interesting…especially since she's from Amity. So what lies ahead for the 16-year-old beauty when she transfers to Dauntless and catches the eye of the youngest Dauntless leader? Eric/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent, everything belongs to Veronica Roth (except for my character Emilia Sable and other new characters that I just made up for the purpose of making them up)._

***This story is set outside of the Tris/Four/Divergent world. But I will still keep the main characters for possible cameos (etc.) and they will still be in character. But this is mainly a romance/drama story - no Divergents in this. But there ****_may_**** be something in the future. Let's see where the story takes me :) Thanks for reading! Please read and review if you like it so I'll know if I should keep going or not.***

I'm fast. Ever since I was a kid I was fast in every part of my being. I ran fast, talked fast, I even ate fast; much to my mother's dismay. I'm currently running fast. Through the Amity apple orchards, towards my home. I'm late for dinner and I can already hear my mother's calm voice in my head saying, _"Emilia Sable. Better never than late." _The last time I was late to dinner, my mother sent me to bed without one morsel to eat, and when I'm hungry, it's not a pretty sight. I am a growing girl after all. I have a lean body and a slim physique, and in recent months parts of my body have grown to be more…noticeable. It's not something I think I'll ever get used to, but many of the girls my age who are going through similar changes are proud of their new bodies, so I act as though I'm proud as well, but really, I feel uncomfortable.

At sixteen years old, I stand at 5'7 and now tower over my petite mother. My father and my two older brothers, Sam and Alex are still taller than I am, but not by much. My wavy hair, now de-shelved from my afternoon climbing adventure, is a carbon black, and reaches the middle of my back. I'm grateful that I didn't cut it. Lately I've put my lengthy locks to good use as a means to cover my body's new "additions." My eyes are personally my least favorite feature. They are a plain, muddy brown. My father says that in just the right lighting, my eyes shine like topaz. I don't believe him, of course, but I smile and thank him every time he says it.

The wind is hitting my face as I run and as the sun begins to set, everything around me has a deep orange glow. The colors of the sun match my Amity clothing of yellow and red. I personally hate our faction's colors. Not the colors on their own, only when I have to wear that mustard yellow and that washed out red, day in and day out. The colors do nothing for my complexion except wash it out. Sometimes I wish we could wear Erudite blue or even Abnegation gray. That's when you know you're desperate, especially since Abnegation is meant to be dull in comparison to all of the other faction colors. It doesn't surprise me that I would think this way, I always think differently from my faction members.

Growing up as a member of Amity, my actions hardly ever went unnoticed. It wasn't rare to see Emilia Sable being taught an extra lesson after class about being polite, patient and peaceful. Polite and patient; those were pretty easy for me, I could fake those well when I had to. I had mastered those two over my sixteen years. It was being peaceful that I had trouble with. Who would have thought, right? I guess I'm living proof that being raised by a group of Amity doesn't mean you'll ever be one of them unless it's what you truly want. Being a pacifist, like my family, friends and neighbors, was never easy for me. When I was five, an Amity boy named Malcolm pushed my brother Alex out of one of the apple trees in the vast orchard I'm currently running through. Alex broke his wrist from the fall that day. My brother, being the ideal Amity child, took the traditional "non-confrontational" route and headed straight to my parents to "talk about the situation." My parents listened with open ears and wide eyes, finally telling him he did the right thing, and that Malcolm's parents would follow their own steps in teaching Malcolm the correct way to handle a situation, better known as the "Amity way." I remember peeking into the room where Alex sat with my parents, thinking, 'I can handle this situation.' It was a feeling I had never felt before. This feeling of wanting to defend my brother, my family and, hell…I just wanted to kick Malcolm's ass. I marched right back to the orchard and did exactly that. A five year old Amity girl who beat up an eight year old. Word spread, and since that day my name has attached to any mischief that occurs on our compound. I'm personally not ashamed of it, but I know it hurts my parents. The embarrassment of having a child that is so different from a normal Amity child. Seeing their disappointed faces so often throughout the years, it's enough to make me fake almost everything I do now. From the group meditations in the morning, to the mission trips to visit the Factionless, I've never been one for Amity customs, but I fake it, and will continue to fake it until the Choosing Ceremony. My brothers chose to stay with Amity when they turned sixteen. No surprise there. In my situation, with my past, I wonder if my parents will even be surprised with what I may choose...with what the aptitude test told me was my perfect match: Dauntless. I had never considered the Dauntless faction. I always thought I would join Erudite. I do quite enjoy reading and learning, but in the end, Dauntless was my result, and tomorrow morning as I head to my Choosing Ceremony, I may step foot out of Amity for the very last time.

I'm almost home now. I'm not even tired after all that running. Over the years I've trained myself, for what...I'm not sure. But now it's starting to make sense. Maybe Dauntless is where I was meant to be. I don't know a lot about their initiation process, but I do know that they're known for their strength, their bravery and interestingly enough, for their skilled use of various weapons. The countless hours I've spent running, climbing, and jumping, could it all have happened for one purpose? For Dauntless?

I'm not sure, but as I slow my run into a walk and take a step into my home, my mother's stern face looks at mine as my brothers and father glance up once before they continue eating. My mother smoothes the wrinkles in her forehead and smiles.

"Emilia, please don't be late again," my mother says with kind eyes. "Now tuck in some dinner. You have to get some rest for your big day tomorrow."

That's when I realize what's going on. My brothers and father aren't looking up, my mother is looking at her food wearily and glances at me every few moments. They haven't asked me the results of my aptitude test, but they must know. I should have known when my mother didn't tell me to immediately go to my room for being late again. They must know that their short-tempered sister, their wild-child of a daughter, will never actually be in Amity by choice. They know that this will probably be our last dinner together as a whole family. A part of me hurts. It feels a guilt that I know will not disappear anytime soon. The guilt of breaking up our family. But another part of me loves my family even more for understanding that I _am_ different, but I am still their daughter. I know that my father wants to talk more about this, and my brother Sam looks as if he's about to let something roll off his tongue, but minutes pass and it is silent at the table, only the sounds of metal utensils and glass plates meeting ever so often, making various '_clink'_ sounds. I don't know what I would say if we were talking anyway, so I am grateful for the quiet. It's in that moment that I know what I will do tomorrow. I will choose Dauntless, something an Amity has not done since well before I was born. Though I don't know what awaits me at the Dauntless headquarters, I swear to myself that I will never forget where I came from or who it was that raised me.

I will never forget that I am Emilia Sable, the daughter of the Amity.

**Thank you for reading! Next chapter will be the Choosing Ceremony, the train and then...THE FIRST MEETING WITH ERIC! AHHH! :D Please R&R! If you like it, I shall keep on going and going and going :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is! Chapter 2. It's a lot longer than the last chapter, because there's a lot more going on. FYI to those reading...I've decided to base Eric off of the Eric from the Divergent movie, played by Jai Courtney, because who doesn't love a hot Aussie ;) ...even though he's American in this...but still, a hottie is a hottie. ANYWAYS. Enjoy! PLEASE Read and Review so I'll know that you like it. Even an anonymous review will do. Thank you! :)**

* * *

I wake up the next morning to a quiet house. Everyone is still sleeping, so I decide I'll get ready for my "big day." After a quick shower, I wrap my hair in a towel and sit down at my vanity. I look at myself in the mirror and study my features. Many Amity members compare me to my mother. I do look like her, but I think she's an enhanced version of me. Our noses are similar; straight and symmetrical. They go well with our almond-shaped eyes lined with thick black lashes, and our dark brunette brows. It ends there though. While my mother has a stunning bone structure and mile high cheekbones, I have a face that's between defined and chubby. My cheeks are plump enough that it makes me look younger than I am, but my face shape is still sharp and angled in the right places. Chin, jawline; overall, it works well together. The only thing that really gives away my age is my body, it may even make me look older than I am, but as long as I keep covered, I can keep getting away with looking like I'm fourteen.

I dry my hair and change into one of my nicer outfits, one that I often save for big occasions; birthdays, holidays, or school events. I figure this will be the last time I wear Amity clothes, so I might as well wear some of the best ones I have. I walk out to the living room and glance into our full-sized mirror in the family room. I'm wearing a loose, long-sleeved A-line red dress that reaches just above my knees. I wear my yellow tights and brown mid-calf boots. My mother wouldn't approve of shoes, but I refuse to wear heels.

"You look beautiful Emilia," says my father from a few feet behind me. I look at his reflection in the mirror. He's standing in the frame of the family room doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. I don't know how long he has been up, but he looks tired, as if he's had trouble sleeping. He's smiling, but I can tell it's not a full-hearted smile. It doesn't reach his eyes.

"Thank you Dad," I say in a subdued voice. We're both silent for a few seconds, until my dad breaks the silence.

"Well! What do you want for breakfast? I'm not letting my little girl arrive at her Choosing Ceremony on an empty stomach!" I smile at his attempt at normality, and say the one and only thing that matters at this moment.

"Waffles, please!"

* * *

My hands are sweaty. I can feel my heartbeat in my head; I didn't even know that was possible. My family and I walked to The Hub together in silence and I received a hug from each member of my family before we had to separate; them joining the other family members and friends, while I joined the other participants of this year's Choosing Ceremony. I'm standing in a line of other 16-year-olds, some who look even more nervous than I feel. There's an Amity boy from my class in front of me and an Erudite girl standing behind me. No one speaks. It's as if we want the last words we say before the choosing, to be the words of love and affection we said to our families moments earlier. There are at least 80 teens in front of me, and another 30 behind me. The crowd in front of the stage settles down. Then it begins. _Erudite. Amity. Candor. Erudite. Dauntless. Abnegation. Amity. Dauntless. _An hour passes and there are now only two of my peers ahead of me. A petite Dauntless girl walks towards the four large ceramic bowls and cuts her palm with a small knife. She hesitates for a moment, her arm hovering over Erudite's bowl of water, then with a determined look on her face, opens her hand and lets a few drops of blood mix with the substance that best represents her new faction. A round of applause erupts from the crowd; I see a sea of blue clapping their hands, some gently, some with force; all of the Erudite are smiling. The Dauntless girl walks off the stage and my Amity classmate takes a step onto the marble platform with the five faction bowls. Without hesitation, as quick as a fox, he cuts his palm and allows his blood to drop into the Amity bowl filled with earth; he knows where he belongs and the Amity, proud of their new permanent member, erupt in cheers and applause. A smile has crept onto my face without my knowledge as I look at the happy faces of the men and women I've grown up with.

Then my name is called and my face goes blank. My palms are so sweaty; I rub them on the sides of my dress and reach for a clean knife from a table to my left before walking onto the marble stage. I stand in front of the five large bowls. The Amity bowl sits at the end of the row to the right, the brown earth inside of it speckled with drops of blood from the now-permanent Amity members. To it's left is the Dauntless bowl filled with lit coals. I walk towards the bowls, now directly between them. Without a second thought, my hand holding the knife raises up and cuts into my opposite palm. I don't even flinch. I hold my palm open towards the sky as the warm blood begins to surface from my wound. I scan the crowd and look for my family. They would be almost lost in the throng of yellow and red if it wasn't for my mother's pitch-black hair. My parents are smiling, but it's not the happy smiles of parents who know their child will stay with them for many years to come. No, their faces show me that although they support whatever decision I make, and want me to be happy, deep down they hope I won't break our family apart. My brothers do not even smile. They have looks of determination on their faces; it's as if they think that by looking at me with confidence and support, I may feel an urge to stay with the Amity. Little do my brothers know, that it would take much more than that to get me to stay. I'm sorry. My decision has been made.

I close my hand, reach out over the Dauntless bowl and squeeze. I hear a sizzle as my blood hits the hot coals then the loudest explosion of cheers I've heard all morning long erupts from the Dauntless. I look around and see Dauntless members with their fists in the air, some have even stood on chairs. All are hooting and hollering. They never thought they would see the day that an Amity would transfer to Dauntless. I feel as if I'm smiling, but if you looked at my face I look stoic. I can't fully smile with the Dauntless…not yet. Not when all of the Amity in this crowd, all of my neighbors, friends and family, look so tremendously defeated. So betrayed. An Amity-born member, a member who was raised to value peace and kindness, has just joined the Dauntless; a weapon-wielding faction who may be more gun-happy than they should be. But they don't understand that Dauntless is where I belong and that it is just misunderstood. I was meant to join the faction that values courage, bravery, and fearlessness. I decide that by the time my family visits me on Visiting Day, _if_ they visit me on Visiting Day, I'll prove to them and to every Amity member, that this decision was the finest one I have ever made.

With that thought, I look at my family members once more, nod towards their direction and walk off the stage to join the other fresh Dauntless initiates. Many look at me with shocked faces. I know why of course. An Amity member hasn't chosen Dauntless in well over 50 years. Even then, that last Amity member never made it past initiation, and under all of the pressure, became factionless. These initiates must think that I've set myself up for failure. Some may even pity me for what they think will be my clear and apparent future. I can use this to my advantage. In that moment, my competitive nature kicks in, and with determination in my gut, I stand with a straighter back, and hold my head up high. I will prove everyone wrong because now, I am Dauntless.

* * *

The Choosing Ceremony has come to an end. Marcus Easton, one of the government officials from Abnegation, makes a few closing remarks. I'm not listening to what he's saying though, I'm too distracted by two Erudite-born Dauntless initiates to my right. For the past ten minutes I've noticed them looking at me in my peripheral vision. At first I didn't care; majority of the group was looking at me the same way, but their attention ceased after a minute or so; but not these two. I turn to my right and the taller of the two has his eyes fixed on my legs before they travel up my body, slow down when they reach my chest, then they finally rise up to my face and our eyes meet. He raises his eyebrows, gives me a toothy grin and nods as if saying he…approves. Disgusted, I whip my head back towards the stage and hear both boys snickering.

The audience is now clapping and rise to watch their children and siblings leave with their respective factions. The ceremony is over which means our initiation process has begun. A well-built, dark-skinned man peels himself from the wall that he had been quietly leaning on for some time.

"Good morning," he says. "Welcome to Dauntless initiation. My name is Max, I am one of your four Dauntless leaders who will be leading you to our headquarters. Remember, if you can't keep up, you fail your initiation and _will_ become factionless." The initiates look at one another nervously. "Follow me."

He starts off in a sprint and is directly followed by a large crowd of Dauntless members, majority of them tattooed and pierced all over, then the initiates follow suit. I run ahead of the initiates around me, not to be first in the group, but to get away from the two Erudite boys. Everyone is laughing and pushing one another, and it is now just the transfers who are running silently. Amity also laughs and smiles often when performing the simplest of acts and I smile to myself, comforted by the fact that Dauntless also enjoys something so run-of-the-mill. We begin to run down a set of stairs and head out the exit. The Dauntless members run across the street, with Max in the lead. We slow down to a light jog as we reach the train tracks that run through every faction. The Amity don't usually use the trains, we'll travel in and out of the city in trucks loaded with the fruits and vegetables that we grow. Our large group has stopped now and Max looks at his watch.

"Here it comes!" he says loudly for all to hear. Everyone turns towards his line of vision and we hear a train horn blow. I look at everyone's faces and there's a mixture of apprehension and confusion in their appearance. I turn to a Dauntles-born initiate who has a bored look on her face.

"What's going on?" I ask quietly. She smiles with pity.

"Ohh right. The Amity never take the trains, do they? Well here's your first step in becoming a Dauntless. You've got to catch the train."

I stare at her blankly. 'What does she mean by 'catch it'?' I think to myself. She must understand my blank stare as one of confusion and nods at the train that has almost reached us.

"We're _jumping _onto train. That's how us Dauntless get around. Just follow my lead," she says. With that, she runs behind a group of members as the train rushes by and I quickly follow, everyone's faces are now a blur. We're running parallel to the train and my eyes become the size of saucers as I watch Dauntless members, one-by-one jump into the open cars of the train. The Dauntless girl speeds up and throws her body to the side. She struggles for a moment as she tries to pull her body in and is hauled into the car by an older member. I follow her exact moves; I pump my arms and run as fast as I ran through the orchards last night. I can't hesitate for even a moment and although my heart is beating a mile a minute, I throw my body up and over, grabbing one of the handles of the train car and then pull myself in. I finally breathe once my feet are on solid metal.

"Wow Amity, _very_ impressive. Even I needed help getting into the train today. I'm Vera Woods," says the Dauntless girl holding her hand out for me to shake. I smile and take her hand in mine.

"Emilia Clarke. Thanks for helping me out there, I had no idea what was going on," I say, as I catch my breath.

"Yeah I figured," Vera says shrugging. "The Amity are usually too far out of the city to even _see_ the Dauntless jumping on and off trains. You'll get used to it though, it'll become second nature to you soon." I smile and as I begin to open my mouth to ask what to expect for the Dauntless initiation, I feel something behind me… right on my bottom. I freeze for a second, my first reaction being that someone's hand grazed my behind on accident, but then the hand doesn't move and suddenly I feel a squeeze. At that moment, my reflexes kick in.

I move fast. My left hand wraps tightly around the assailant's wrist, I lift the hand off of my bottom, briskly turn around and I see that it's the tall Erudite boy; he isn't giving me that toothy grin now. His expression is one of surprise and to my pleasure, fear. There's a heat that spreads through my body, as hot as lava and as fast as lightning, and it's causing me to think a mile a minute. I intertwine the fingers of my right hand into his and snap his fingers back towards the dorsal surface of his hand. He screams out in pain and immediately everyone in the train car falls silent and turns towards the sound. I hear the sound of my heartbeat drumming in my ears as the Erudite boy continues his screeching, but I'm not done with him yet. He's on his tiptoes, trying to alleviate the pressure on his fingers by squirming to a more comfortable position, but my grip on him is too hard. I twist his fingers in the opposite direction and he bends forward thinking that I'm through with his torture. To his dismay, I take his arm, pull it down then stretch it across his back and force the arm up. The Erudite boy screams and falls down on his knees. I bend over his body, my hair falling into both of our faces as I lean closer into his ear and whisper:

"Do not for _one minute _think that I will follow the rules of Amity; of spreading peace and kindness, if you continue with your despicable habits. There's a _reason_ why I'm in Dauntless now, because peace and kindness were never in the books for me. I don't know about you, but I just want to get through this initiation in one piece. Do you _want_ this trouble from me constantly? It's all up to you."

A sob escapes his lips and he quickly shakes his head a few times. I release him and he falls to the floor. I then throw my head back, my long hair flying up and over my head to then rest along my back in soft tendrils. That's when I realize that there's a circle of Dauntless around us, stunned, silent and staring at me. Max walks through the crowd towards me, and surprisingly, he looks amused.

"Well, well, well. What did I tell you Eric? I had a feeling the Amity girl was going to surprise us, but I definitely wasn't expecting that," says Max while leaning down to inspect the Erudite boy's hand.

I hear the sound of heavy footsteps approach me from behind and I slowly turn around. I'm suddenly standing in front of a towering, muscular Dauntless member, he's so close to me that I can feel his breath on my face. Tattoos run down the sides of his neck and disappear beneath the collar of his black shirt. He has piercings everywhere: his lip, eyebrow, ears. His light brown hair is shaved down on the sides with a small mohawk pompadour on the top of his head. I would be wrong if I said he wasn't handsome, but as his steel gray eyes pierce into my brown ones, I've never felt more intimidated in my life, and a sort of fear enters my being, rendering all other feelings useless. My eyes are wide and my mouth is slightly agape as he begins to scan over my face and after what feels like a lifetime, he finally looks back up and holds my gaze.

"Welcome to Dauntless. Looks like you'll fit in better than I thought," says the strapping man in front of me, who I now know as Eric. He smirks, crosses his arms against his chest and tilts his head to the side. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you Amity."


End file.
